Vikings will let Chris Kluwe compete for his job

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told the media that punter Chris Kluwe’s off the field opinions haven’t affected his job status even they just drafted a punter.

“It has nothing to do with anything Chris Kluwe is off the field,” Spielman told reporters on Saturday, after the team used a fifth-round pick to acquire UCLA punter Jeff Locke. “When we’re making decisions, we’re purely making them, trying to bring in the best competition possible regardless of position. When we brought in the first three [first-round picks], we’re trying to create competition and see if they can upgrade us. This was just another normal personnel move. It had nothing to do with Chris Kluwe’s off-field concerns, I have no issues if Chris Kluwe wants to express his opinion, that’s his right, that’s his freedom of speech. This is just a football decision to bring in a guy to come in to compete.”

Last year the Vikings drafted Blair Walsh and dumped Ryan Longwell, Spielam was asked if something like that may happen again.

“I’m not going to comment on anything right now,” Spielman said in response to that question. “Right now we just finished the draft and finished signing college free agents so we’ll sit down with the coaches and analyze where we’re at with everything. But right now going forward, we expect that to be a competition.”